Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Madisonville should be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant thyme.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

Frost tolerance for thyme:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Thyme do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Madisonville is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant thyme and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your thyme indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Madisonville the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madisonville and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Madisonville you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your thyme if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madisonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Madisonville

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Madisonville.